NOVEL NEXT Chapter 443: An Eye-Opener!
"Then listen to Master."
Wan Mingchuan turned around to look at Hu Zhile, smiling and asking, "Hu Sister, you see it's full and a bit sleepy. I was thinking that the little dog probably likes to burrow, can it stay with you in the Linglong Cave for now? If no one comes to claim it after a few days and we decide to keep it, I'll make a doghouse for it!"
Hu Zhile nodded in agreement, holding the little white dog as she entered the Linglong Cave and specifically found a comfortable stone nest for it, laying some soft straw, "You can stay here for now. If you officially become a member of the small courtyard, the Venerable Family will surely find you a place to stay."
"Woof woof~" The little puppy whimpered softly, burrowing into the pile of straw and rolling around twice.
"I have to say, it's quite good-looking." She ruffled the snow-white, smooth long fur, scrutinizing it for a moment, and then laughed, "Its limbs are long, fur is like satin, and eyes are spirited. It really seems to have a bit of immortal fate.
Little dog, oh little dog, if you truly have great fortuity to stay in the small courtyard, you will surely enjoy great blessings in the days to come!"
Then she worriedly thought of her younger sister, wondering how even a stray puppy could easily get in, while that beautiful yet silly sister never had a chance to squeeze in.
Hu Zhile finished petting the dog, sighed lightly, stood up, and went to the poolside to cultivate, realizing that everything else was superficial. Only through diligent cultivation and increasing strength could she truly own something. She must seize the time to strive for an early promotion in realm.
Once she was far away, Lingdi poked its little head out from the stone nest, a look of great shock appearing on its small face!
It prided itself on being knowledgeable, having lived long enough as part of the Cloud Concealment Sect, one of the ten ancient sects, and even ascended to an ancestor level. It had seen all sorts of rare treasures.
Yet today's trip was truly an eye-opener!
First, there was the Divine Tree that only existed in the Celestial Realm. Cloud Concealment Sect's ancient texts recorded an Immortal who ascended and bestowed a Divine Map that depicted and described a Divine Tree that grew only in the Celestial Realm, one that could spontaneously release spiritual energy. It was said to be indestructible, helpless without an immortal technique.
Then there was the Jasper Pool Immortal Realm, recorded as indescribably mystical. Ordinary Immortals couldn't indulge in the Jasper Pool freely but could possess spirit pools that were somewhat similar, capable of continuously releasing spiritual energy.
The Celestial Realm was rich in spiritual power due to these divine artifacts that naturally produced spiritual energy.
Lingdi observed that the spiritual energy in the small courtyard didn't disperse outward, as if enveloped by an invisible barrier, making the entire courtyard self-contained, starkly different from the world outside separated by a mere line.
If there were more divine artifacts similar to the spirit pool, Divine Tree, and Linglong Cave, the spiritual energy gathered in the small courtyard would eventually transform into immortal energy. What difference would this place have from the Celestial Realm?
"Just who is he?" Lingdi couldn't fathom that plain piece of paper, nor understand how the person could have migrated here, bringing records of celestial trees and scenery.
It couldn't really be that the Celestial Realm collapsed, and this guy picked it up piece by piece, right?
Even taking the wildest guess, if he could pick from the void and keep it alive, he indeed has true skills.
Mysterious origins didn't prevent Lingdi from having a crazy heartbeat. Its cultivation had been stagnant for many years; if only it could gain a little bit of immortal energy...
"Woof woof~" The more it thought, the more excited it became, its small body trembling slightly in the stone nest. This was indeed a magnificent opportunity!
No wonder the old saying goes: things are unpredictable. Having turned into a stone dog and remained hidden for countless ages, it never imagined it could come out of the mountains one day; even more unthinkable was this world having a hidden corner so celestial that it just happened to encounter it!
The opportunity was rare, it didn't matter if the master was a reincarnation of an old acquaintance or a visitor from beyond the skies, as long as he wasn't a bad person and was quite generous; most importantly, he didn't see through its disguise, treating it like a stray dog. Might as well stick around.
Having the chance to absorb immortal energy while pretending to be a regular stray dog, letting that kid enjoy the achievement of raising a Great Demon, what harm could that bring?
Lingdi stretched its body, letting out a soft squeak before diving into the straw pile, sniffing the dry fresh scent, and fell into a peaceful, deep sleep.
The brief episode of taking in a stray puppy quickly passed, and the small courtyard returned to its serene harmony.
Besides the green bird sent back to the Misty Ridge, everyone stayed diligently at their respective places, cultivating seriously. Xie Chenyuan did not want to waste such a good opportunity either, and sat cross-legged in front of the spirit pool, unrestrainedly absorbing the abundant pure spiritual power.
Jiang Yuan took some time to venture into the Netherworld's second courtyard, collecting the elixirs from the Alchemy Room and adding new herbs to continue refining, waiting for Tang Qin to communicate and bring them to the grand assembly of the Netherworld ghost cultivators.
After completing scattered tasks, he hurried to the Old Dragon's Cave to deliver a bouquet to the elf You Meng, purchased temporary tools to delve into the second layer to mine, and search for the hundred-year-old fruit.
He worked until dusk, then returned to the small courtyard and immediately went to the Bait Workshop to fetch the high-level fertilizer products needed for the task. Excitedly, he opened sixty new plots of farmland in a newly cultivated area.
The first layer of efficient fertilizer upgraded the ordinary farmland to Level Two farmland, and then another higher-level fertilizer upgraded it to Level Three farmland.
[Main Quest: Construct a Level Six Home. Reward: One Courtyard Communicator.]
[Task 1: Develop no less than fifty Level Three farmlands completed. Reward: Seed Gift Package +1 issued.]
[Task 2: Build Squeeze Workshop. Reward: Building Duplication Card +1]
"Luckily, I upgraded the fish pond in time. With more fish, the daily production of pond mud was sufficient to synthesize enough fertilizer." Jiang Yuan was well-versed in farming game routine—combining a large amount of primary materials into a small amount of intermediate materials, and combining a large amount of intermediate materials into an even smaller amount of high-level materials.
Level by level, more and more base materials are required, making the overall upgrade speed slower and slower.
He had initially obtained 19 Golden Acceleration Cards from completing tasks, each speeding up progress by a hundred years. Two were used earlier to ripen the Carefree Lotus, leaving him with a stock of 17 cards.
A Nine Netherworld Peach Tree takes four hundred years to mature, four hundred years to bloom, four hundred years to bear fruit, and four hundred years to ripen, requiring a total of sixteen hundred years. By this calculation, seventeen Acceleration Cards could yield a batch of "Immortal Peaches," with one card leftover!
"It's exhilarating to have plugins and tools, hahaha! Let's see how the quality of these Nine Netherworld Peaches without any tricks!" Jiang Yuan could hardly contain his excitement and immediately chose a plot of Level Three farmland to plant a Nine Netherworld Peach Seed.
[Using one Golden Acceleration Card, the growth time of the Nine Netherworld Peach Tree is reduced by a hundred years.]
"Whoosh!"
A flash of golden light passed, and the just-planted peach seed, as if pressed by the acceleration button, burst out of the soil, a small sprout unfurling its leaves and shaking them, growing taller while producing many tender branches.
After five seconds, the effect of the Acceleration Card tool ended, and the Nine Netherworld Peach Tree grew into a small tender sapling.
[... Growth time reduced by a hundred years]
"Whoosh!"
Another golden light flashed, and the small sapling turned into a big sapling; grew into a medium tree; finally, it matured into a large tree over four meters high with a broad canopy.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Using four Acceleration Cards, the peach tree bloomed into a tree full of fragrant pink peach blossoms.
"Actually, keeping it like this is pretty nice; it can bloom for four hundred years, belonging to the ultra-long standby mode." Jiang Yuan looked at the splendidly blooming peach blossoms on the tree. As the gentle breeze occasionally sent petals fluttering, he thought of harvesting a batch of peaches first, and then letting it bloom to decorate the small courtyard once he acquired more Acceleration Cards.